The Walking Dead's David Morrissey Signs On For AMC Pilot Line Of Sight

We learned back in April that Brotherhood's Blake Masters was developing a pilot for AMC called Line of Sight. This week comes word that David Morrissey, who's been creeping it up on The Walking Dead as the formidable "Governor" in the zombie drama, has signed on for the lead role in Masters' pilot. So what does this mean for Morrissey's Walking Dead role?

That much is unclear right now. Variety reports that Morrissey will play the role of Lewis Brent in Line of Sight, a drama about a National Transportation Safety Board investigator (Morrissey's character) who survives a mysterious plane crash. Also recently cast in the pilot was Kai Lennox (Hitchcock, Vegas). So Morrissey's playing the lead, which suggests a bigger time commitment for this project, assuming Line of Sight makes it to series. Right now, it's still at the pilot stage, which means his commitment to The Walking Dead may not be in jeopardy at all. But the fact that Morrissey is signing on for what could be a big TV role on another project does raise some questions about his TWD character's fate.

From the statement AMC made in Variety's report, Morrissey will be "doing double duty for AMC viewers through his work on The Walking Dead" and their Line of Sight pilot. The network also goes on to note that both projects film in Atlanta, which should simplify the situation. But let's say Line of Sight does go to series. Is Morrissey going to be a series regular in The Walking Dead and the star of another AMC drama at the same time? It's certainly possible, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it's been discussed, and if Line of Sight goes to series, the Governor will be on his way out, which may have already been the plan. Given the villainous nature of Morrissey's TWD character, and the fact that he wasn't expected to stick around very long beyond Season 3, I don't think it's a stretch to think the character's days are numbered as we head into Season 4. Then again, you never know! AMC wouldn't directly comment on how this project could affect the the Governor's storyline on The Walking Dead.

Prior to taking on the Governor for The Walking Dead, Morrissey's credits include a number of British series going back to the 80s and 90s, as well as an appearance in Doctor Who and a part in The Other Boleyn Girl. Line of Sight sounds like an interesting project for AMC, and Morrissey's casting only bumps it up further among the projects to anticipate for the network.

The Walking Dead returns for Season 4 on October 13 on AMC. Watch the latest preview here. And if you weren't aware, the DVD/Blu-ray for Season 3 of TWD arrived in stores yesterday. The special edition offers a particularly creepy nod to Morrissey's character in its packaging.